Editor: Z0Rel
I quickly strategize.
The immediate priority is the enemy before me.
'Hon Wei and Hon Won have both become enemies at the same time.'
Hon Won is currently transmitting a visual from the distant Heaven-Earth Palace within the Human Race Territory, and Hon Wei is unleashing attacks in front of me.
However, I quickly make a decision and act on it.
Whoong!
As my consciousness accelerates, I draw out the Colorless Glass Sword and swing it towards the water mirror displayed by Hon Won.
Zzerrong!Before Hon Won can even react, the water mirror shatters into pieces.
At that moment, a beam of light shot by Hon Wei narrowly missed my back.
It's a perilously close decision!
But I quickly read the celestial energy.
'Fortunately, the bad luck has dissipated.'
At the Integration stage, even a transmitted image can be used to perform spells, so pre-emptive action is essential.
I meet Hon Wei's cold gaze head-on.
"It's regrettable that it has come to this, but my father's command is absolute, and I have no choice."
"Is that so. I understand."
"Just surrender quietly. No matter how renowned a genius you are, the gap between the Nascent Soul stage and the Heavenly Being stage cannot be overcome. Especially if you're up against me."
"You seem confident in your abilities."
I raise the Colorless Glass Sword as I speak.
She calmly replies.
"You don't think that you can face me just because you blocked a casual strike from me last time, do you?"
Suddenly, she changes her stance, which had been merely extending her arm and shooting out spiritual power.
Koong!
She shifts her stance, taking on a posture reminiscent of martial arts.
'Martial arts? No...'
The stance lacks practicality.
It's purely for show.
From the perspective of a martial artist, it's just a flamboyant display of form without substance.
However, from a cultivator's perspective, the meaning is different.
'That posture is a formation.'
Zzirit, zzirit, zzirit...
The air tingles.
This Hon Wei feels different from before.
Her previously somewhat lackluster momentum reverses, now revealing a terrifyingly malevolent aura.
Kugugugugu!
"…!!"
The area begins to vibrate intensely.
"Let me show you. The divine teachings allowed only to the Palace Lord of Penglai Palace and their direct lineage..."
The next moment.
I instinctively extend my sword.
The feeling that 'I must block this' saturates my mind and soul.
"Yin Yang Mountain."
Red Yang energy from the sky and blue Yin energy from the ground swirls together to form an enormous Taiji that crushes down towards me.
The massive Taiji seems to engulf the entire world before becoming one.
Koong!
I instinctively feel it.
'This is...'
I rush forward with my sword towards Hon Wei, but at the same time, my sword can't touch her.
The form of the Taiji!
Covering the world, the vast form of the Taiji that envelops my body became a spherical curse that trapped me.
Kugugugugu!
Inside the form of the Taiji, immense pressure is felt.
"Five Elements Mountain."
Then, Hon Wei takes another position with a clear voice, forming another formation with her entire body.
Dragon Vein!
The vast dragon veins of the earth surge up.
The dragon veins, risen by her will, seem to split into the energy of the Five Elements around the Taiji prison that traps me, circling it and wrapping a five-colored band around the shape of the Taiji.
Kyeeeng!
The strength of the curse that bounds me becomes even stronger as the energies of Taiji and the Five Elements merge.
"Yin Yang Five Elements, Mount Tai!"
I quickly deduce the true nature of this curse.
'A blessing?'
The nature of this curse is a kind of blessing.
Although I can't move from within, this curse also protects me from external attacks.
'Why would she cast a blessing on me? No, damn it!'
I grit my teeth, realizing the attack Hon Wei is about to unleash.
Kuguguguguk!
Significant pressure weighs down on my body, making movement difficult.
Koong!
Hon Wei changes her stance.
Each of her hands swirl with black and white lights, emanating both sacred and dense devilish energy.
"Splitting Emperor!"
Snap!
She claps her hands together, swirling with black and white energy.
Then she takes a step forward and dives towards the Yin and Yang Five Elements prison enclosing me, spreading her arms wide as she collides.
Simultaneously, I feel the Yin and Yang Five Elements prison that imprisons me being torn apart.
After casting a 'blessing' on me and synchronizing it with my energy, the Yin and Yang Five Elements disintegrates into seven pieces.
I'm engulfed in the swirling lights, feeling as though the energy coursing through my body is being finely dissected.
Shiiiing―
Hon Wei, looking at the giant dust cloud that formed in a radius of about 500 li in front of her, brushes off her hands emotionlessly.
"Did I get him…?"
That should have been enough.
A direct hit from the ultimate technique of Penglai Palace, the Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique, would instantly kill even those of the same realm, and those in the late stages of the Heavenly Being stage or at the Grand Perfection would not be able to escape fatal wounds.
'It was a bit excessive for someone at the Grand Perfection Nascent Soul stage, but he was a genius of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, so it wasn't inappropriate.'
Hon Wei waits for Seo Eun-hyun's Nascent Soul to emerge, watching the dust cloud.
If this strike reduced the fragile body of the Nascent Soul stage cultivator to dust, capturing only the Nascent Soul and taking it to her father would conclude this 'unexpected mission.'
'It was an interesting encounter, but it ended regretfully.'
She clicks her tongue and waves her hand.
Whiiiiish―
At her gesture, the wind blows, clearing the dust cloud in front of her within 500 li.
And then, she shudders.
Whiiiiish―
"…!"
A man, naked yet covered in smoke, stands with a glass sword in hand, grinning with his teeth bared.
The naked man, Seo Eun-hyun, chuckles and spits out a mouthful of rotten blood.
"For 3,000 years, rumors had it you were at the mid Heavenly Being stage, so our Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect thought of Senior Hon as somewhat of a dullard."
Shrrk...
He wipes the blood from his mouth, looking at Hon Wei with bloodshot eyes.
"On behalf of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, I apologize for that. Having mastered such a technique, I suppose it could have taken a bit more time."
"…Impressive. You survived that?"
Hon Wei genuinely marvels.
But that's all.
'He must have picked up some body refining method. But that's as far as he goes.'
Whiiiing!
Once again, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy vibrates, and the energy of the Yin and Yang Five Elements begins to envelop Seo Eun-hyun in the form of a sphere.
Her hands start to gather black and white light again.
"Remarkable. Then, let's see if you can take another."
"…Haha."
But the next moment.
Seo Eun-hyun swings his sword.
'What!'
Sound, perception, and reaction fails to keep up.
Before she knows it, Hon Wei witnesses Seo Eun-hyun's Colorless Glass Sword piercing through her Yin and Yang Five Elements prison and rushing towards her chest.
It's inevitable.
Hon Wei diverts the gathered Immortal-Devil energy for defense instead of offense, managing to block Seo Eun-hyun's attack. Once again, a flash covers all directions.
Kugugugugu!
As the flash subsides, what is visible is Seo Eun-hyun pressing down the Colorless Glass Sword with one hand, and Hon Wei, desperately blocking it with both hands.
"Remarkable, Senior Hon."
Seo Eun-hyun sincerely marvels as he looks at her.
Shocked by his brute force, Hon Wei looks up at the sky.
'What...?'
And in the sky, her celestial energy reveals a pattern symbolizing inevitable defeat.
Seo Eun-hyun continues.
"To think the technique you've mastered is similar to mine..."
I click my tongue as I look at her.
She is blocking my sword with her seemingly delicate arms.
How could she block my strength, which had been refined to the utmost limit through demon beast methods, with just her arms?
The answer is simple.
She, too, has been practicing demon beast methods.
But at the same time, what she mastered is also a technique of the Heaven Tribe.
"Is this Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique a technique that handles the power of both Heaven and Earth Tribes?"
The Heaven Tribe focuses on spiritual (law) power and spells, while the Earth Tribe concentrates on physical strength and vitality.
However, theoretically, the Heaven Tribe can learn all methods of Heaven, Earth, and Heart Tribes. And occasionally, individuals from the Heaven Tribe do indeed learn techniques from other tribes.
Among them, a training method that emphasizes both the spiritual power-focused methods of the Heaven Tribe and the physicality-focused methods of the Earth Tribe is known as Law and Body Dual Cultivation.
Or, for those who have mastered both methods of the Heaven and Earth Tribes, it's also called Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation.
Hon Wei's Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique is such a method of Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation.
Kuguguguk...
'I understand why it took 3,000 years just to reach the mid Heavenly Being stage.'
She isn't a severe dullard.
In terms of talent, perhaps she is just an average mortal.
Rather, reaching the mid Heavenly Being stage by practicing Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation with the talent of a common mortal is an achievement in itself.
Such a training method naturally takes a long time.
"Insane… unbelievable… How have you been practicing Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation...?"
And as much as that, Hon Wei's pupils tremble as she realizes the extent of my strength.
"A mere hundred years into your cultivation, and you've managed to overpower me with Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation…? Impossible…"
"…"
Certainly, my growth rate seems nonsensical at a glance.
She looks up at me with a desolate gaze, biting her lips tightly.
"Is this… what a true genius is?"
"…"
I don't respond but instead apply more force to the hand holding the sword.
Kugugugugu!
The ground where she stands caves in, and she begins sinking into the earth.
The next moment.
Shuk!
In an instant, I exert a great force, breaking my sword free from her grasp and splitting her head with the Colorless Glass Sword. I embed the sword nearly to the hilt, cutting her in two before retrieving my sword.
Chijijik...
She slowly begins to regenerate, and I speak while looking at her.
"For a typical Heavenly Being cultivator... no, even for an unprepared Heavenly Being at Grand Perfection, they would've been surely split apart by Senior Hon's attack."
Her Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique possesses a vicious power.
The reason I was able to overpower her with physical strength is also because her Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique is focused on using the body itself as an 'exit' for the energy to 'erupt,' whereas the Azure Spirit Starlight Quintessence Great Method is focused on purely growing the 'physical body' itself.
Moreover, I could suppress her only because I evolved the demon beast method and temporarily laid down the Mad Lord's circuits and the strength of an immortal beast within my body.
'Had I not protected my body with the Treading Heavens Formless Sword, I would've surely become Seo Eun-hyun powder...'
The power of Heaven and Earth Tribes, the circuit of the Mad Lord, the power of immortal beasts, and encasing myself with Treading Heavens Formless Sword were barely enough to keep my body intact. It's unnecessary to further explain the potency of Hon Wei's attack.
I regenerate my pulverized clothes using a clothing restoration spell.
"Then, farewell. It's unfortunate our agreement has fallen through."
I thought about taking Hon Wei hostage and storming into the Heaven-Earth Palace's Flying Immortal Platform, but immediately dismissed the idea.
Judging by the intent shown by Penglai Palace Lord Hon Won when dealing with his child, he doesn't seem particularly attached to Hon Wei, and might instead completely obliterate me along with the hostage.
'The Heaven-Earth Palace's Flying Immortal Platform is no longer an option.'
I fly up into the sky, leaving Temporal Fate Island, lost in thought.
Even for me, charging into the Heaven-Earth Palace, where an Integration stage Grand Cultivator resides and Four-Axis stage cultivators swarm around patrolling, is not something I have the audacity to attempt.
'And the Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique Hon Wei practiced is ultimately Hon Won's innate method... If the Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique is primarily a Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation method, it will possess power surpassing one or two stages even in the Integration stage.'
From what I know, Grand Cultivator Hon Won is an early Integration stage cultivator. However, recalling the Mount Tai Splitting Emperor Technique Hon Wei just demonstrated, I realize that Grand Cultivator Hon Won's true capabilities are far beyond the initial stages.
'Facing a Grand Perfection Four-Axis one-on-one is tough enough, let alone effectively facing a mid to late Integration stage cultivator.'
Having decisively given up on the Heaven-Earth Palace, I ponder my next move.
'Then, how should I descend to the Head Realm?'
The first thing that comes to mind is the lowest level of the Serving Command Ark.
If the lowest level of the Serving Command Ark can lead to the Lower Realm, it's worth a try.
'Of course, going to the Serving Command Ark swarming with the Demon Race, bypassing Seo Hweol's eyes and Oh Hye-seo's abilities to reach the lowest floor, then overcoming the Ship Controlling envoy Gyu-ryeon stationed there...'
The difficulty itself is insane, otherwise, I would have immediately proceeded.
'Then, what's the other option?'
Another method comes to mind.
The Void Spirit Pond in the Devil Realm.
'Using the Void Spirit Pond can also lead to the Lower Realm…'
However, the Void Spirit Pond isn't a stable Flying Immortal Platform, and there's a high risk of being swept into a spatial storm and dropping off somewhere along the way.
'Where to go…'
Something presumed to be a seal placed on Zhengli had already significantly unraveled.
Perhaps soon, the Owner of Heavenly Punishment will come seeking the attraction.
The decision is made swiftly.
'To the Void Spirit Pond.'
There's no time to waste, especially not enough to dawdle and watch Seo Hweol's scheming ways.
It's also hard to predict how things will be twisted when making a plan to stick Zhengli into Seo Hweol's mouth against such an opponent.
'Besides, there are things I need to ask…'
I remember the attitude Grand Cultivator Hon Won showed towards Yeon Wei, grinding my teeth.
'She assured me that Hon Won wouldn't recognize her...!'
Despite such a confident declaration, Hon Won recognized her at first glance and erupted in rage, leading to this tangled situation.
I will definitely demand answers about this incident.
***
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